On May 19, Skymark Airlines Inc. announced two new routes connecting Kitakyushu with Haneda and Naha starting August 10.

Each route will have one daily roundtrip flight and three airlines will be competing on the Haneda route, the other two being Japan Airlines (JAL) and Star Flyer Inc. Upon hearing the announcement, the City of Kitakyushu welcomed the news and communicated that its policies will offer assistance such as promoting travel on the routes.

Flights will be scheduled during the “late night and early morning hours” to make use of Kitakyushu Airport’s 24-hour operations. Further details will be announced after approval by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, but there is already a Sky Flyer flight landing at Kitakyushu Airport after midnight and Skymark will operate late night Naha-bound flights out of Haneda departing at midnight (starting in June) and 12:20 a.m. (starting in July), so it is possible that the flights on the two new routes will also be scheduled for sometime around midnight.

Skymark wants to give travelers more options and further stimulate demand by flying new routes.